Topless Cellist: The Improbable Life of Charlotte Moorman

Though I have always admired avant-garde art in many forms, I know little of the NY avant-garde scene of the 60’s/70's. Just a few chapters into Topless Cellist I realised I was becoming happily immersed in this world. Rothfuss’s unassuming yet deliberate telling of Moorman’s life filled a sizeable gap in my understanding of a time and place in which so much evolutionary progress was made in the realm of experimental music and performance art. Aside from Cage and Ono, I was unfamiliar with pretty much all the artists and players that figured in Moorman’s arc, including the Cellist herself. I was creatively inspired to read about someone who seems to have organically disregarded so many layers of (limiting) social orthodoxy related to art, performance, communication, sexuality, family, money….her approach to art and life was just too expansive to define neatly.For me, Moorman’s story is one of complete, reflexive liberation; I’m so glad I read it. I can only imagine the time and energy it took to research and then compile her story in a form that is both easy and fun to read. Just as it was never Moorman’s intention to profit in any real way from the project that was her life, Rothfuss clearly saw the telling of such important history as the imperative.

I bought this because I wanted to learn more about her playing style. When I finished, I was less impressed with her as an avante-garde cellist per se, and more with her ability to promote the music of her time. She performed the work of many contemporary composers and commissioned many new compositions, because the premiere organizer of contemporary music festivals in New York, and helped developed the careers of people like Nam June Paik and Yoko Ono (Pre-screaming). Her nude performances always seemed like a gimmick to me, and I came away from this book with my mind unchanged.I especially appreciated the detailed descriptions of her music festivals. Some of the compositions, and some of the composers, are nearly forgotten today.

A well-written biography of a misunderstood, neglected figure. It provides needed insight into the period of the Avant Garde Festivals. It might even make a few readers change their opinion of Yoko Ono.

She will be forever missed!

A beautiful, quirky look into an uncompromising artists world. A true original!

Very informative about an important artist in the history of art

This is a thoroughly researched autobiography. It provides a detailed, authoritative account of a fascinating, talented, dedicated female cellist who became an exceptional avant-garde performance artist.The book is meticulously referenced and indexed, so will be of interest to serious researchers and students. But it will also appeal to anyone who enjoys reading about interesting, real people who have left their mark.I came across the name of Charlotte Moorman through my interest in modern classical music and subsequent discovery of the Fluxus movement in art. Charlotte was associated with many of the Flexus artists such as Yoko Ono (who wrote the Foreword to this book), John Cage, La Monte Young, Nam June Paik and many others.For me, Charlotte comes across as a committed and talented musician who became so involved with avant garde art that she became a living work of art herself. Sounds cliche, but I think she really was.

Thoroughly researched and written with wit and style.

Sehr informativ und gut geschrieben mit zahlreichen Abbildungen. Ein Muss für jeden Kunstliebhaber!